Local children spot fire and save Tallowberry Park

Published 6:00 pm, Wednesday, November 2, 2005

Austin Frederickson, 10, and Stefan Derewestzky, 11, spotted the blaze at Tallowberry Park, located on Tallowberry Road near the Village of Panther Creek that Sean Greer, 17, and Jack Greer, 8, extinguished the night of Oct. 27.

By CHEVALIER MAYES

True hometown heroes are the ones credited with saving a local park from burning down.

Austin Frederickson, 10, and Stefan Derewestzky, 11, spotted the blaze at Tallowberry Park, located on Tallowberry Road near the Village of Panther Creek that Sean Greer, 17, and Jack Greer, 8, extinguished the night of Oct. 27.

"We were coming down Tallowberry at 7 p.m. and we were passing the park when my son Austin said 'hey mom there's a fire at the park'," Wendy Fredrickson said. "I thought it was coming from a grill at the park but it was not. I ran to a neighbor's house who then called 911.

"Their (the neighbors') oldest son Sean extinguished the fire and their youngest son Jack helped. The fire department showed up a few minutes later."

Sean, a student at The Woodlands High School, said the fire was about two cubic yards, surrounded the outer part of the park and was starting to spread to the trees. If he had not been able to extinguish the fire right then and there, he said the fire would have caused extensive damages.

"I was happy I put it out," he said. "I'm glad because it would have started spreading to houses towards my neighborhood. It would have ruined a lot of trees too."

Austin, who attends Wilkerson Intermediate, said he frequently plays at Tallowberry Park and although at first he was not sure if there was a blaze at the park or not, having been able to spot the fire and save the park is a great feeling.

"It feels really good and I'm kind of surprised that I saw it," he said. "I thought someone had a bonfire going; I thought it was my neighbors and I was going to ask my mom if we could go sit with them, but it was smoking a lot.

"I have played at the skate park and on the swings sometimes. I am very excited about this park because the other parks are too far."

Stefan, who attends Wilkerson Intermediate, spotted the fire along with Austin. He said he "felt kind of good" after spotting the fire.

For more information about Tallowberry Park, call the Community Associations of The Woodlands at (281) 210-3800.